


The Dragon Incident of 1916

by Jellymish



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Cornelius Fudge's ancestor, Dragon Training, Dragons, First World War, Gen, Humor, One Shot, Pre-Movie, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-01-11
Packaged: 2019-03-03 15:10:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13343820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jellymish/pseuds/Jellymish
Summary: From the Harry Potter Wiki: „Theseus Scamander was among the wizards who participated in the First World War, later earning a reputation as a "war hero," while his younger brother Newt worked with Ukrainian Ironbellies on the Eastern Front. This secret programme for the British Ministry of Magic was ultimately cancelled as the dragons tried to eat everyone other than Newt.“





	The Dragon Incident of 1916

Mr. Archibald Fudge of the British Ministry of Magic cleared his throat and straightened his blackened collar. He had seen quite enough action today and although they were currently involved in a global-scale war, nobody had told him to expect things to get… _heated_ around here.  
  
„Let me get this straight then, Mr. Scamander,“ Archibald began, glancing up from his scattered papers. The young man sitting in, or rather balancing on, the now two-legged chair in front of the desk, looked up. His dull reddish hair was singed in places, there were soot stains all over his clothes and he was sporting a small, but rather sore-looking burn mark on his cheek. „It was Scamander, wasn’t it?“  
  
„Yes.“ The young man nodded. „Newt Scamander.“  
  
„All right.“ Archibald took a note on an available piece of paper and turned his attention back to the matter at hand. „Mr. Scamander, is it correct that all ten of the Ukrainian Ironbellies in your care broke loose from their shackles today and then proceeded to try and eat people?“  
  
„Well, yes. You were there, sir,“ Scamander pointed out.    
  
„Just making sure we both have the same facts,“ Archibald answered and sat back. Folding his hands on his desk, he paused gravely. Then, he went on. „Speaking of facts, _in fact_ the aforementioned dragons tried to eat _everyone_. Everyone but you. Why is that, d’you think?“  
  
Newt swallowed and blinked a couple of times, fixing his gaze on a spot at the edge of the desk. „There was somewhat of a revolt, sir,“ he explained, „You see, the dragons weren’t very pleased with the way they’d been treated by most of the handlers, so they broke free in anger. And as I had taken more of a reward-based approach to the dragon-coaching as opposed to the, I have to say, rather brutal approach my fellow wizards were utilizing, I suppose they ended up liking me.“  
  
„You almost make it sound like the dragons have personalities.“  
  
„They do, sir.“

Archibald narrowed his eyes at him, searching his face for any sign of humor. There was none. The man had a deadly serious expression on his face. Deciding on letting this one slide, Archibald carried on with the next point on his mental list: „And then what? You fought off the dragons?“  
  
„No, sir, I asked them to stop,“ Newt answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.  
  
Archibald blinked slowly. „ … asked?“ he said, incredulous.  
  
Newt spoke without missing a beat. „They can actually be quite agreeable, if they want to be. I explained to them that my fellow wizards did not know much about proper dragon handling and that they were very sorry for what they did. And then I pointed out that it’d make me quite upset if they ate anyone, which seemed to do the trick, because they agreed to stop burning the camp down and left.“  
  
„You let them _go_?“  
  
„With all due respect sir, it isn’t like I can take on ten furious Ironbellies all at once.“  
  
Archibald stared. And then stared some more. As far as he was concerned, Newt Scamander _had_ just taken on ten furious Ironbellies all at once. By _talking_ them out of it. For a brief moment, he wondered if he was dreaming. _What an extraordinary young man_ , he thought to himself. _Either that or he’s stark, raving mad._  
  
Shifting uncomfortably in the silence after his last statement, Newt cleared his throat. „Is… is that everything, sir? I’m sure all hands are needed out there.“ He nodded towards the tent flap, which was gently moving in the wind. Wisps of smoke were periodically wafting inside.  
  
„One more thing, Mr. Scamander,“ Archibald interjected and held up a hand. Newt tensed visibly. „Before you go, answer me this: How in Merlin’s name d’you think did all ten of our ironbellies break loose at the same time? One should think that shackles of such size would be effective in holding back even the largest dragon breed.“  
  
Newt’s expression remained interestingly void of emotion. „I couldn’t say sir. Perhaps we underestimated their strength,“ he said.  
  
Archibald narrowed his gaze. „Yes… perhaps.“  
  
He continued staring at Newt for a slightly uncomfortable amount of time. Neither man said anything. Then, as a signal that this meeting was over, Archibald picked up a few random pages from his desk and shuffled them. „Either way, since the dragons are gone now, I’m afraid we’ll have to shut this unfortunate experiment down. You may leave, Mr. Scamander. You and your fellow wizards will be informed about any further developments.“  
  
Newt was up and out of the tent before Archibald could even start taking another breath. Had the man wanted to move any faster, he would’ve had to disapparate. Archibald sighed.  
  
Young Scamander did seem to have his heart in the right spot, but sometimes he wondered. He really did.

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: Even though this story takes place during the first world war, I didn’t give Mr. Fudge or Newt any military titles, since the wizarding world doesn’t actually seem to have a military. And if they do, I wouldn’t expect them to use muggle ranks anyway.


End file.
